The most common heddle for use in weaving looms consists of a relatively thin flat strip of metal, such as steel, which has an opening or eye intermediate of the ends of the heddle. As is commonly understood, a single warp thread or yarn passes through the eye of the heddle. The heddles are typically mounted on a slide bar of a harness frame within the loom and, in this manner, the width or flat strip side of the heddle is parallel to the warp threads. The eye of the heddle is typically rectangular with fully rounded ends or squared ends with small corner radii to minimize chafing of the warp yarn passing through the eye. It is also known that the edges and corners of the eye should be well polished to avoid damaging or impeding the movement of the warp thread.
In an ideal configuration, the eye of the heddle should not bind or chafe the warp thread passing therethrough nor crowd or contact the adjacent warp threads controlled by heddles bounded in adjacent harness frames in the set during the shed change reciprocating and opposite up/down movements of the harness frames and heddles. However, conventional heddles do not obtain this ideal situation.
Since the heddle is mounted in the frame with its width parallel to the warp threads, the common practice in the art is to twist the center portion of the heddle about its longitudinal axis so as to open or cant the eye for passage of the warp yarn therethrough. However, with the conventional heddles, if the center portion of the strip is twisted sufficiently to allow the warp yarn to pass therethrough without binding or chafing in the eye itself, the twisted portion of the heddle tends to interfere and rub against adjacent warp threads. Alternatively, if the center portion is twisted to a lesser degree so as not to interfere with adjacent yarns, the eye does not present a straight passage for the warp yarn, which tends to bind within the eye itself. Thus, the conventional heddles have not been able to eliminate friction and interference both within the eye and with adjacent warp threads. Applicant's present invention addresses these deficiencies in the conventional heddles and marks a significant improvement in the art.